January 01, 2009

Aloha, Hawaii:: Barring a schedule change, next season's Pro Bowl will take place Jan. 31, 2010, with the Super Bowl that year on Feb. 7. The league's plan is for players on the AFC and NFC championship squads not to take part in the Pro Bowl.

Stupid. The players on the Superbowl teams are getting screwed. There is no way they will play and risk injury before the biggest game. I fail to see how moving it from Hawaii is going to generate more revenue. Many die hard NFL fans do not watch the pro bowl and the casual fans are even less likely to watch. I may be in the minority but I dont think this is a wise move.

I kind of like it.
I rarely watch the game with current set up as after the Super Bowl the Pro Bowl is so anti-climatic. This way the game takes place while I still have some interest in NFL football.

Does suck that players from the Super Bowl teams won't be playing, but in other All Star games some good players opt out each year, so I really don't see that as too big of an issue.

Having it the week before the Super Bowl almost mandates that it take place in the same city as the Super Bowl, which I think is fine. More people will get a chance to see the Pro Bowl than they do now. In a few years when the Super Bowl comes to Dallas, I would consider going to the Pro Bowl, especially if I can score some comp tickets.

The Pro Bowl's a bore. Even when my team won the Super Bowl I didn't hang around another week and watch it.

So for me, I think this idea is an improvement. I might actually watch this, since pangs of NFL starvation hit pretty hard in the off-weekend before the Super Bowl.

The players who miss the game -- because they're in a better one a week later -- could run out for pregame introduction cheers and then hang around on the sidelines. Which is only slightly less effort than they would have given as players in the game.

I agree that any change they make to the game, such as playing it prior to the Super Bowl, would be an improvement. Something is needed in the couple weeks before the big game, and this can't help but generate a bit more interest. When it's all said and done, though, the game still sucks. I'm with the suggestion above that said name the Pro-Bowl squads but skip the game. All it becomes is a free trip to Hawaii for these guys who could basically care less about the actual game.

Does anyone (other than me, and I was barely old enough to remember) remember when the Super Bowl champions would play an exhibition game against the college football stars? Can you even imagine that type of thing taking place today?

I get football withdrawl syndrome on the in between week. All the college basketball games networks put on can't help me. I love this idea.
I do remember the last college all stars vs Pro's game. It rained so hard at Soldier Field that they cancelled the game in the third quarter. Pittsburgh was far ahead.
College all stars vs. THE Pittsburgh Steelers. Don't tell me Pete Rozelle thought that one up.

The main issue with having the Pro Bowl right before the next season is that no one would want to get dinged up right before games that count.
With the game the week before the Super Bowl, even fairly major injuries would have time to mend.

As long as we're reinventing the postseason, I'd like to see the NFL reseed playoff teams without regard to conference. When the two best teams in the league are in one conference, which happens 50% of the time all else being equal, give them a chance to meet in the Super Bowl.